Giving that Feels Good 1 of 8
I have been preaching in this church for the last eight years or so.
During that time, I have prepared countless messages for Sabbath morning and Wednesday evening services.
I would suspect that it would be approaching close to 1000 messages. If you figure 2 on Sabbath and one on Wednesday.
I have preached on just about every subject in the Bible. In fact, probably many times.
There are two topics I must admit that I have stayed away from. Can anyone guess?
Marriage…and Giving.
I guess I have been afraid to deal with those two topics for different reasons.
Marriage…because I am afraid all the way through the sermon people will be looking at Shirlene and I am afraid that she couldn’t keep a strait face…or worse…in the middle of the sermon she will let go a few well placed AMENS.
I have stayed away from giving for a different reason.
I guess it is easy to be somewhat cynical or even skeptical these days when someone associated with the church begins to talk about giving.
With the scandals that have rocked the religious world in the last couple decades with the misuse of funds that have been givin to further the Lord’s work and instead it went to home mansions, jets and air-conditioned dog houses.
Understanding the sensitivity to the subject of money in the church, many preachers and churches have become silent on the issue.
But the problem of that is, God is not silent on this issue at all.
In fact, one of the main themes of both the Old and New Testaments is the subject of giving back to God out of what He has given to us.
My main objective in this message is to simply worship God in a way that brings Him honor and glory and allows us to draw closer to Him.
Let me just put some of you at ease as we begin…
--My only objective is to encourage all of us to simply be faithful to God.
That’s what we’re here isn’t it?
I shouldn’t have to apologize for what God has to say about giving.
- Nor should I to shy away from it. I have a responsibility to share ALL of gods counsel.
Here is the bottom line…
Giving to God must take place in your life and in mine if we are going to live to our full potential as Christians.
We can talk about prayer, bible study, fellowship, and other spiritual habits, but none of them are more important than obtaining the habit of giving to God.
Friend, if you have sitting there thinking that you wished you would have stayed home, or that I had picked a different topic to preach about…
…It’s because you don’t enjoy giving.
The reason many people don’t enjoy giving, or hearing about it, is because they give to God at some level, but they do it for the wrong reason.
In other words, they have the wrong motivation behind it.
I want to share with you a number of motivations for giving this morning.
I want to start with the lowest motivation first, and we’ll work our way through to the best motivation – all from 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9.
Before we get going, let me remind you of something you probably already know – Giving is essential in the life of a Christian.
It’s essential for three reasons:
1. Because it pleases God;
2. As we give we are able to accomplish a tremendous about of good for God;
3. If you develop the habit of giving to God it will help you escape the grasp of materialism.
Let’s start with MOTIVATION #1: GUILT – (Have To Giving)
2 Cor. 9:7 7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
Did you notice that last phrase? “God loves a cheerful giver.”
There is a saying that God loveth a cheerful giver…but He also accepteth from a grouch.
Our heart’s response when giving, should be one of cheerfulness.
The word translated cheerful here, is where we get our English word hilarious.
Now when’s the last time that we passed the offering plate you heard someone just start to giggle as they dropped their check into the plate?
God is saying that this is something that ought to make us really happy.
And He doesn’t just stop with that phrase cheerful here – if we back up a little we see that God makes it very clear we are not to give reluctantly and we are not to give under compulsion.
Now here’s my point – this first motive of guilt is not a biblical motive.
And anybody that would teach you in such a way that you have to give is abusing Scripture.
What is the problem with giving out of guilt?
Well first we should acknowledge that is does cause some people to give
--People will give if they think they have to give.
Here’s the problem…
--When you begin to view giving to God’s work in the same way you view paying your taxes – you don’t enjoy doing it.
--But not only that, it doesn’t help us to outgrow materialism.
So let’s just cross this one off from the very start – this motive has absolutely no redeeming value whatsoever.
2. MOTIVATION #2: RESPONSIBILITY – Ought To Giving
Now this is a higher motivation than guilt.
2 Cor. 8:7 7 Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.
NIV 7 But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
This little word excel should say a lot to us – it means that we should really become good at doing this – we should become excellent in our giving.
And it’s really interesting the way it plays out in this verse, because he says we should excel “just as” we do in these other areas of the Christian life.
--faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness, and love.
Now these first four areas where we are called to excel, we would all say “yea, I really need to be good at those things – those are areas that I need to grow”.
But just as importantly as those areas, we find that God wants us to grow in this grace of giving – this is not at the bottom of the list, it is the whole point of this passage – just as these things are important, learning to excel in giving is equally important.
The better we understand this, the more able we are to break free from some bad attitudes we might have about giving.
I have no doubt that most money is given because people feel this sense of responsibility to finance the work God has called us to do -- and that’s a good thing.
I’m sure many of you have heard of the “80-20 rule”.
The “80-20 rule” refers to studies on congregational giving which indicate that 20% of church members give 80% of the funds.
For many, it is usually because they feel some level of responsibility to give.
The problem with this type of giving…
The motive of responsibility, at its core, has a tendency to lean toward legalism.
If your primary motive for giving is responsibility, you will reach a point where you say, “I have done my part and I’m not doing any more” -- and that’s a legalistic attitude.
Again, this type of giving is usually not out of joy and not because you want to share in ministry.
3. MOTIVATION #3: NEEDS – Want To Giving
When we see the need, we are motivated to give.
You see the need we have at this church – we have a need to meet our budget; we have a need to pay off the debt on our building, we have a need to add new ministries that will help us reach more people for Christ.
(2 Cor. 8:13-15) 13 For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: 14 But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: 15 As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack
The quote at the end of this verse is from the OT – Ex. 16:18.
If you go back and read the story behind this quote you’ll find that it is the account of the gathering of the manna when the children of Israel were wandering through the wilderness and God was supplying their needs.
God was taking care of them, and He told them that everyone needed to gather as much of the manna as they needed.
After they gathered what they needed they would go back and share it with one another.
Some refused to share what God had provided and hoarded the manna for the next day...
What Happened?
- They found that the manna they had kept for themselves was filled with maggots.
The lesson of course, was that they were supposed to be looking out for the needs of others and meeting those needs with what God provided.
Now Paul takes that analogy and applies it in the NT for recognizing our responsibility to live beyond ourselves.
What’s good about this kind of giving?
- We’re not giving because we feel guilty, and not just because we feel responsible – we’re giving because we know that there is a need and we want to meet it.
So what is the problem with this kind of giving?
- If this is your only motivation for giving, you will tend to give only when you approve of a particular project.
- In addition, this motive is very much emotion-based.
- Most of us aren’t going to be very moved by the electric bill, or trash pick-up, or office expenses – although these are very real and significant needs to do ministry.
4. MOTIVATION #4: THANKSGIVING – Can’t Help It Giving
When you are living your life in gratitude for God you will give out of that gratitude, rather than out of guilt, responsibility, or need.
2 Cor. 9:12-13
12 For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God; 13 Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men
I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it like this, but when you drop your money in the plate each Sabbath you are confessing the Gospel of Christ.
We need to learn that God equates giving with confession of the Gospel.
It is expressing to God that we are thankful for what He has done in our lives.
Here is what’s good about this type of giving…
When we consider all that God has done for us and for our church, it is great to know that we have a tangible way of expressing our thanks back to Him.
When I see the kids of this church learning in class, or I see people becoming followers of Christ. When I see lives being changed…
It causes me to want to thank him.
I do that by giving to His cause and offering to do even more so that more ministry can be accomplished
And when more ministry is accomplished I have even more reason to be grateful.
- It is a cycle of thanksgiving that continues to manufacture godly benefits.
The weakness in this kind of giving is Perception
In particular, our perception of thankfulness.
Let me explain: I don’t know what you’re going through right now – I don’t know where you are emotionally, spiritually, or physically.
If you are not up to par in any of these areas you might not be feeling all that thankful right now.
And if my main motivation is thanksgiving, which in general is a great thing, if for some reason I’m not feeling thankful at the moment I will tend to withhold from God what is rightfully His.
5. MOTIVATION #5: WORSHIP – It’s My Nature Giving
This is the top motivation for giving.
2 Cor. 8:5
5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God
Worship is giving yourself to God – which means that giving is worship!
These Macedonian Christians gave themselves first to God, and their financial decision flowed out of their desire to worship the Father.
We must acknowledge that we are His.
We must know that we are dependent upon Him for all things––not money, but Him––not dependent upon wealth, but dependent upon God.
If we give ourselves to the Lord, the motivation to give then will be a motivation of worship, of praise, of joy at the awareness of His powerful work within our lives.
Then we will gladly give our money to His work.
We will gladly give our time and our talents to the cause of His kingdom.
It will flow out of us as worship, because we first gave ourselves to the Lord and found life in Him.
It is important not to settle for anything less than God’s best motivations for our giving.
As we grow upward from this motivational game plan, our joy will soar, and our efforts for the kingdom will expand dramatically.
Conclusion:
Giving feels good when it is motivated by a spirit of worship and praise.
Giving feels good when it is the result of having first given ourselves to the Lord.
This morning, I don’t want to ask you to give money to the Lord, but let’s give ourselves.
Page 1 of 8